• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.428-433
• /
• 2004

The aim of this study was to investigate the histochemical parameters of muscle fibers, and to estimate the correlation between these histological parameters and carcass traits in pigs. A total of 230 crossbred Duroc$\times$(Yorkshire$\times$Landrace) pigs (149 gilts and 81 castrated male pigs) was evaluated. Carcass traits (carcass weight, backfat thickness, and loin eye area), muscle fiber size (crosssectional area, diameter, and perimeter), muscle fiber number (density of fibers/$mm^2$ and total number of fibers), and fiber type composition (percentages of myofibers and relative areas of each fiber type) were evaluated. Mean cross-sectional area (CSA) and type IIB fiber CSA were positively correlated to carcass weight, backfat thickness and loin eye area. Mean fiber CSA was mostly related to type IIB CSA (r=0.98) as a result of the high percentage of type IIB fibers in the longissimus muscle. Correlations between fiber diameters and perimeters were also high, and showed similar results with CSA. Mean fiber density was negatively correlated to carcass weight (r=-0.24), backfat thickness (r=-0.18) and loin eye area (r=-0.27). To the contrary, total fiber number was positively correlated with carcass weight (r=0.27) and loin eye area (r=0.53). Carcass weight and loin eyZe area were not significantly related to muscle fiber composition. For backfat thickness, there was an opposition between type IIA percentage, which was positively related and type IIB percentage, which was negatively related. Fiber type composition of type I and IIA fibers were negatively correlated to that of type IIB fibers (r=-0.67 to -0.74). In the present study, carcass weight and loin eye area were positively correlated to CSA and negatively correlated to fiber density. But, these relationships were generally low. The fiber density was strongly affected by muscle fiber size and the total fiber number was affected either by CSA of muscle fiber and loin eye area. Fiber type composition was much more related to their numerical abundance than their CSA.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.21 no.10
• /
• pp.1529-1534
• /
• 2008

The aim of this study was directed at exploring the possible use of muscle fiber characteristics as new selection traits for improving both porcine lean meat production and quality. A total of 174 (114 Yorkshire, 30 Landrace, and 30 Meishan) pigs were used for this study, and lean meat production ability was estimated by backfat thickness and loin eye area. The Longissimus dorsi muscle was taken in order to measure meat quality and muscle fiber characteristics. Due to the high correlations between total muscle fiber number and most of the performance traits, all pigs were classified into three groups (low, intermediate, or high) by total muscle fiber number using cluster analysis. The high group had the highest loin eye area (p<0.001). The meat quality traits were within normal ranges as reddish pink, firm, and nonexudative (RFN) pork, but the groups classified as intermediate and high had relatively large drip loss percentages (p<0.05), produced more than twice the amount of pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) pork as compared to the low group. The group with a high total muscle fiber number was further classified, based on type 2b fiber percentage, into low or high groups by cluster analysis. The results showed that the low type 2b fiber group had good loin eye area (p<0.05), small drip loss (p<0.05), and did not produce PSE pork. For these reasons, a high total muscle fiber number, with a low percentage of type 2b fibers, may be suitable in selecting for improvements in both lean meat production and meat quality.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.67-71
• /
• 2017

PURPOSE: Muscle fatigue is a cause to change proprioception. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of calf muscle fatigue and visual control on postural balance during single-legged standing in healthy adults. METHODS: Nineteen healthy adults (male) were participated in this study (mean age: 24.36 years; mean height: 171.32 cm; mean weight: 64.58 kg). The postural balance (sway length, sway area, sway velocity of COG displacement) was measured by Balance Trainer System (BT4) in before and after calf muscle fatigue feeling in single legged stance. In this study, repetitive single-legged heel rise test was used to induce fatigue of the calf muscle. Paired t- test was used to compare the postural balance between before and after calf muscle fatigue. Data of subjects were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Level of significance was set to .05. RESULTS: The sway length, sway area, sway velocity of COG (center of gravity) displacement after calf muscle fatigue feeling was significantly increased compared to before calf muscle fatigue feeling during single leg standing both eye open and close conditions (p<.05). CONCLUSION: This study suggested that calf muscle fatigue feeling has affected on postural balance when standing one leg both eye open and close conditions and postural control was disturbed by muscle fatigue and visual feedback in single leg standing.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.667-671
• /
• 2005

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the muscle mass and fiber number on post-mortem metabolic rates and pork quality. Carcass traits, muscle fiber characteristics, and type of fiber composition were evaluated using a sample of 200 cross-bred pigs. The muscle mass was divided into two groups according to carcass weight and loin-eye area measurements (heavy or light). In addition, the muscle histological characteristics were divided into two groups according to the muscle fiber density and total number of muscle fibers (high or low). All the carcass traits were significantly different in the muscle mass groups. Increasing weight significantly affected the cross-sectional area (CSA) of all fibers. The low group, which had a low muscle fiber number indicating a larger CSA of fibers, and especially the heavy-low group had the highest CSA levels of fibers. The fiber number percentage and the area percentage were significantly different in the groups categorized by fiber number. The heavy-high group indicated a normal rate of pH decline and the R-value. In addition, pigs with a heavy muscle mass and high muscle fiber number indicated normal drip loss, lightness, and protein denaturation. The present results suggest that increasing the total muscle fiber number has a beneficial effect on increasing the muscle mass without deteriorating the meat quality.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.428-437
• /
• 2008

To identify transcriptional markers for beef traits related to meat tenderness and moisture, we measured the transcriptome of the Longissimus dorsi skeletal muscle in 10 Korean native cattle (KNC). We analyzed the correlation between the beef transcriptome and measurements of four different beef traits, shear force (SF), water holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), and loin eye area (LEA). We obtained non-overlapping and unique panels of genes showing strong correlations (${\mid}r{\mid}$ > 0.8) with SF, WHC, CL, and LEA, respectively. Functional studies of these genes indicated that SF was mainly related to energy metabolism, and LEA to rRNA processing. Interestingly, our data suggested that WHC is influenced by protein metabolism. Overall, the skeletal muscle transcriptome pointed to the importance of energy and protein metabolism in determining meat quality after the aging process. The panels of transcripts for beef traits may be useful for predicting meat tenderness and moisture.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.603-611
• /
• 2016

The aim of this study was to analyze the contribution factors (backfat thickness, eye muscle area, carcass weight, marbling score, and feeding period) affecting meat unit price (South-Korean Won / Kg of meat). The best slaughtering age to maximize unit price was also assumed. All data used in this study were acquired from the Korea Institute for Animal Products Quality Evaluation from 2010 to 2014. Contributions to the estimated unit price of cows by the following factors, backfat thickness, eye muscle area, carcass weights, feeding period, and marbling score were 2.65%, 0.04%, 1.58%, 1.58%, and 95.72%, respectively. Contribution to estimated unit price of steers by the same factors (backfat thickness, eye muscle area, carcass weights, feeding period, and marbling score) were 7.88%, 1.24%, 0.07%, 90.81%, and 95.72%, respectively. Slaughtering ages ranged from 26 to 36 months and the data were separated into each month for an 11 month period. The unit price of meat from Hanwoo slaughtered at 30 months was highest among groups. The lowest unit price was observed in the group belonging to the Hanwoo slaughtered at 36 months. In conclusion, of all contributing factors, marbling score affected unit price the most. Based on our results, it is recommended that the optimal slaughtering age be set at 30 months to maximize unit price. Moreover, the feeding of beef cattle past 30 months of age is not recommended because of the increase in feeding costs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.461-469
• /
• 2019

The aim of this study was to analyze the contribution of carcass traits (backfat thickness, eye muscle area, carcass weight and marbling score) and the season at slaughter to the price (auction and market) using squared semi-partial correlation. The season at slaughter (summer expressed as season_2, autumn as season_3, and winter as season_4) were added into the estimation as dummy variables, and spring was set as a default variable. In this study, the carcass grades of 22,298 Hanwoo steers slaughtered from 2012 to 2017 were used to performmultiple regression analysis. The rankings of the contribution of the carcass traits and the seasons at slaughter to the auction prices were in the order of marbling score (68.63%), season_4 (11.88%), backfat thickness (10.45%), eye muscle area (6.11%), season_3 (2.19%), season_2 (0.45%) and carcass weight (0.28%). (R-square of the regression = 0.4101). The rankings of the contribution to the total prices were in the order of carcass weight (51.74%), marbling score (32.12%), season_4 (6.04%), backfat thickness (5.54%), eye muscle area (3.22%), season_3 (1.14%), and season_2 (0.19%). (R-Square of the regression = 0.6486). As a result, season_3 and season_4 had a negative effect on the auction price and total price. Because of seasonal event such as Korean Thanksgiving Day and Korean New Year's Day on season_3 and season_4, much supply was needed to meet the high demand. Thus, the seasonal effect at slaughter could be another factor to be cosideredin when considering of slaughter or breeding.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.49 no.6
• /
• pp.689-698
• /
• 2007

This study aims to estimate the genetic parameters for carcass traits on Hanwoo of breeding farmhouses using Animal Products Grading Service’s data of 428,812 cattle from 101 slaughterhouses nationwide from 2000 to 2005. Using carcass traits of carcass weight, eye muscle area, backfat thickness, marbling score, meat color and fat color that greatly influence Hanwoo's grade, the effects of carcass year, carcass season, sex and carcass region were estimated. Based upon carcass traits of carcass weight, eye muscle area, backfat thickness, marbling score and meat color that greatly influence Hanwoo’s grade, the heritabilities and genetic parameters were estimated of 17,578 Hanwoo slaughtered in 2005 with existing herdbook, where EM-REML algorithm was used in estimating genetic parameters. The mean and standard deviation of each carcass trait are 321.42±53.62kg, 76.25±10.43cm2, 9.96± 4.14mm, 3.75±2.00, 4.83±0.48 and 2.99±0.40, for carcass weight, eye muscle area, backfat thickness, marbling score, meat color and fat color, respectively. As a result of analysis on the effects of carcass year, the carcass weight, backfat thickness and meat color came out highest as 359.40±0.181, 9.82±0.017 and 4.90±0.002, respectively in 2004. As a result of analysis on the effects of carcass season, the carcass weight and eye muscle area came out highest as 345.88±0.144 and 79.57±0.033 respectively in spring, and the backfat thickness was highest as 8.78±0.013 in winter, and the meat color and fat color slightly came out higher as 4.88±0.002 and 2.96±0.001 in fall, while the marbling score was highest as 3.29±0.006 in summer. The results of the analysis on the effects of sex indicated that the backfat thickness and fat color were highest as 10.53±0.010 and 3.07±0.001 in cow, the carcass weight came out highest in Hanwoo steer as 368.03±0.068kg, the eye muscle area were highest as 82.96±0.042 in bull, and the marbling score was highest as 4.19±0.007 in steer, and the meat color was highest as 4.89±0.001 in cow. Regarding the results of analysis on the effects of carcass region, the carcass weight, eye muscle area,

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.15 no.12
• /
• pp.1677-1679
• /
• 2002

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the tenderness of meat and it''s correlation with other carcass traits of Hanwoo steers. The significantly (p<0.01) higher mastication and shearing were observed in boiled meat than in the raw meat but the coefficient of variations were greater in raw meat than in boiled meat. The correlation between raw and boiled meat for shearing and penetration were positive and significant (p<0.01). Negative and significant correlations were observed between mastication and eye muscle area (p<0.05) and also between shearing and cooking loss (p<0.01) in raw meat whereas, penetration in raw meat was positively and significantly (p<0.05) correlated with age of the steers. Shearing in boiled meat negatively and significantly correlated with age (p<0.05), carcass weight (p<0.01), back fat thickness (p<0.01) as well as muscle score (p<0.01). The pH was not significantly correlated with tenderness in both raw and boiled meat. There were possibilities that the tenderness of boiled meat could be predicted from the raw meat.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.4
• /
• pp.253-258
• /
• 2010

This study was conducted to compare the phenotypic performance and genetic merits in terms of weight at 12 months, carcass weight, eye muscle area, backfat thickness, marbling score and selection index of Hanwoo young bulls and proven bulls from the year 2004 to 2006. The data of 208 bulls used in this study were taken from the Nnational Hanwoo genetic evaluation coordinated by National Institute of Animal Science. Hanwoo young bulls were superior in the phenotypic performance of weight at 12 months, carcass weight, and eye muscle area showing significant differences from Hanwoo proven bulls in most comparisons. The backfat thickness of Hanwoo young bulls was significantly thicker higher than Hanwoo proven bulls in all comparisons (p < 0.05). Also, Hanwoo young bulls were not significantly different from Hanwoo proven bulls in the genetic merits of weight at 12 months, carcass weight, eye muscle area, backfat thickness, marbling score, and total genetic merits. Performance of Hanwoo young bulls were not significantly different from 1st class of Hanwoo proven bulls in all the traits studied except in eye muscle area.